Sword Art Online Chain Story Collaboration
by Lojky
Summary: Hey! It's me, Lojky. This is the collab I have going on with a few people. When the third chapter is done, I'll post the second, then the fourth is done, I'll post the third, etc. But check out all the other authors that helped with this story! They're awesome!
1. Chapter 1 - Lojky

**Lojky**

 _Horizontal. Uppercut. Horizontal Spin. Horizontal. Down Cross. Up Cross. Opposite Diagonals. Reverse Grip. Slash Up. Slash Down. Corkscrew Spiral. Forward Grip. Crap!_

I start up the skill again. Starburst Stream. _Let the system guide you!_ I remember saying that to Klein two years ago, but it's still hard for me. I have to stay fast, I don't know what'll happen if someone surpasses my reaction time. I might lose my skill. I might keep it.

After Kayaba revealed that his avatar "Heathcliff" was the game's final boss, he simply walked off, saying we'd be reunited on the one hundredth floor. Since then, there have been numerous people who reached the level cap of 100. Klein. Asuna. Schmitt. Why am I still at level Ninety-Nine?

I know, it's higher than most people, but as the vice-commander of the KoB, I'm sort of irritated. There are numerous people in the guild, not just Asuna, that have hit that level cap. I will _need_ the HP boost! Especially if anybody wants me to fight Heathcliff.

I successfully completed Starburst Stream, and I transition into Starburst Streak. It finishes the final thrust and lunge of the combo, and transitions into a two sword slice downward, an spiral around the enemy upward, launching them into the air, and stabs both swords through their head, making them plummet towards the ground.

"Hey, Kirito? I brought you sandwich- AH!" I stop my sword an inch in front of Asuna's nose. She looks at me worriedly, and I mumble an apology as I put my swords away. "What's with you lately? You seem off."

"I'm just tired of waiting. We all agreed not to fight the Ninety-Ninth floor boss until everyone was ready to fight Heathcliff. And I don't know why I'm not ready!" I punch a pillar, causing a skill to activate, and the pillar to blink with a purple "Immortal Object" sign.

"You need to rest! You're pushing yourself too hard! And repeating Starburst over and over again isn't going to make it more powerful. Maybe we need to go monster hunting after lunch?" I take her hand and pull her through the training room and the hallways into the dining room of our guild's base. The members of our guild all wave at us, and she blushes when she realizes what's happening.

"Kirito! No public displays of affection at work!" Asuna tries to pull her hand free. I laugh and squeeze her hand again, pulling her to the head of the table of the dining room.

I take the sandwich. I take a bite, and I imagine a little black haired girl sitting next to me, doing the same. It's a sad reason, but the reason I didn't kill Heathcliff on the seventy-fifth floor was because I was scared. Scared of losing Yui. Scared of Asuna not wanting to meet me in real life.

Maybe, I was scared of the real world itself. I finish the sandwich. "Do you want to stay here Asuna?" I ask her.

"In Granzam? Well, we have our house on floo-"

"No. In Aincrad. Think about it. We have ninety-nine floors here! It's a paradise for those of us who want something. Something more in life!"

Asuna looks at me. And she frowns. "If we do stay, what would we do? Sit around and wait for the mobs to run dry? Maybe wait for _everyone_ to be at our level? That's dumb, Kirito. We need to get out, before Heath- no. Before Kayaba traps us here forever. And besides, a hospital will only maintain us for so long!"

"But we could be happy! We're strong enough that if we withdrew from the final boss fight, we wouldn't have to leave! And I wouldn't mind staying here until I die," I protest. I don't want to end my time here. The past three months since Kayaba's disappearance have been hard, but I like it here.

"Kirito! No! We're going!" Asuna yells suddenly, drawing our whole guild's attention.

"What's wrong Asuna? Why are you so mad all of a sudden?"

"You don't get it! We can spend a few more months here _living,_ if you can even call it that, or we can spend the rest of our lives together!"

"We should take this elsewhere Asu-"

"No! We can talk right here! I know you feel that the real world isn't as good as this one, and that you feel more alive here, but it's just a game! I want to go back to my family, don't you?"

"Of course, but-"

"No buts! You'll come with us or stay here. Alone!" Asuna shouts.

"I thought... Asuna... please? Reconsider!" I plead.

"Give me your uniform. You're on temporary ban from the guild. Come back when you're less stubborn!" I grab Asuna's hand.

"Please! I don't want to leave you Asuna!"

A notice pops up in front of me: _"You have been kicked from the Knights of the Blood Oath. If you think this is a mistake, PM the guild leader, Asuna."_

"I'm sorry Kirito. You can't convince me to stay. The tensions are high enough, especially with the LC killing people again. We can't stay here any longer. Maybe, once we leave, we can get back together."

I equip the Blackwyrm Coat, and toss the white KoB coat to Asuna.

"I'm going back to being solo? Maybe I'll change your mind later," I look around me. "Teleport, Somichiru," I call out, holding a teleport crystal. My mind clears as I teleport to the 99th floor.

I look at the wasteland landscape of Somichiru. There are monsters all over. The floor is two miles in diameter, and the teleport gate is not accompanied by a plaza. I see the Fuurinkazan killing monsters, getting exp for their players that aren't at the cap yet.

I swing my swords, killing the Kobold Olympian in one shot. This floor is filled with stronger versions of boss monsters.

A walks over, and for the first time in years, I cry.

"What's wrong Kirito?" Klein looks at the message I received. "Oh... What happened? Another fight?"

I nod.

"Wait, did you leave the KoB? Dude, you're probably almost at the cap! The guild bonus would help you!" Klein explains, as if I don't know.

"I was kicked. Asuna didn't want me to stress her out, because our ideas differ... I might redeem myself by killing Heathcliff though!"

"Kirito, you won't be able to solo the game creator. He's above the cap. You saw the notice, it was sent to every player over level ninety," Klein swipes his fingers, and I see a new message notice. It's a guild invite.

I hit the "O" button on the message box What's done is done. No way to go back now. I kill another Ten Armed Buddha Statue. Level up. Finally. Now the real game begins.

"Welcome to the Fuurikazan, Kirito. I sorta doubted you'd join... Huh. Well, I do believe we have a boss to fight."

"No. Not yet. We have something to take care of first,"

 **Next: Da Kaleidoscope**


	2. Chapter 2 - Da Kaleidoscope

**This chapter was by Da Kaleidoscope. Go check his stuff out!**

"Hey, Kirito," Klein asked me as I sifted through my inventory.

"Yeah?" I replied, finally finding the items I needed.

"Why did you make the 'something we needed to do' sound all important and stuff if you just wanted to sell some drops?"

I looked at Klein and give him a sheepish grin as a pile of swords appeared on Agil's counter.

"Holy-how long have you had these?!" Klein asked, shocked.

"Eh. Two, three days? I haven't gotten the chance to sell them yet."

Agil cleared his throat, and I turned my attention to the man behind the counter. "100 Col apiece."

I just sighed. "Agil, why do you even try?"

"Because you don't really need the money."

"…True. But that still doesn't mean you get to rip off your favorite customer."

"Fine. 150."

"300."

"No way. 200, take it or leave it."

"Deal."

Klein watched bemusedly as Agil and I haggled back and forth.

"So anyways," Agil said as he accepted the trade request. "Why'd you leave the KoB? I see that you joined the Fuurikazan."

I shrugged. "Reasons," I answered vaguely.

"You and Asuna had another fight, didn't you?"

I winced. "Did word really travel that quickly?"

"Erm, yeah," Agil replied. My eyes narrowed. He's hiding something. Rather than push the issue though, I simply finished the trade request and backed up.

"Your turn Klein."

The redhead took my place and dumped his own somewhat smaller pile of assorted junk on the counter and started negotiating the prices. I leaned on the wall until he was done, and then walked out of the store with him in tow.

"It's getting late," Klein observed. "Where are you going to sleep?"

My mouth tightened at his question. Usually, I share an inn room with Asuna, but that was out of the question after our fight. I also didn't want to sleep in our home because it took some time to get to and because Asuna might be there for some reason.

"Where ever you guys are," I replied after a while.

"We have a guild house on floor 75. I think we have an extra room."

I nodded, and we set off.

* * *

"Thanks," I said as one of the Fuurikazan members showed me my bedroom.

"No problem," he replied with a quick smile before leaving me alone.

I sighed as the door closed behind him. _What a day_ , I thought as I collapsed onto the bed. The idea of dinner flashed through my mind, but it was quickly followed by the thought of Asuna. My stomach clenched.

 _We've been fighting a lot recently. I'm just scared of losing her. No, absolutely terrified. But she's right too, I guess. It's better to fight our way out and live happily in the real world rather than a few months in here. We're so close anyways. So close to killing Kayaba…_

I clenched my fists at the thought of the Paladin, and how he just abandoned us at floor 75. _I had my suspicions all along. I should've acted on them sooner._

After he had left, everything fell into chaos. The KoB practically disintegrated. Most of the frontliners simply quit, believing escape to be impossible. The only thing that kept the clearing effort alive at all was Asuna. She and a few others rallied the players together, fueling their anger. While the clearing force never regained its former size, it would've been completely gone without her.

 _Asuna_. I closed my eyes and imagined her face. Suddenly, the bed felt way too large and cold. _I should apologize to her. Should I send her a PM? No. It's better to do it in person. I'll have to find her tomorrow._

 _Oh, this is just FANTASTIC_. I put my teleport crystal away with a sigh.

Before I could get a chance to find Asuna, Klein had rallied up the guild to hit the labyrinth and explore the last level. If I had asked, I'm sure Klein would've let me find Asuna, but I reasoned that I could always find her later. It wasn't like we were going to spend all day in the towering maze.

And then, as we approached the last unexplored part on the map, we got attacked by a swarm of mini-Skull Reapers. We were caught off guard and separated, but the mobs weren't too tough. And then I fell into a really deep crevice that apparently is an anti-crystal zone.

 _Well, looks like the only way to go is to follow this freezing cold stream._ I waded through the waist-high water and entered into a cave. _Now all I need is some extra-poisonous mobs to come out of nowhere and kill me, and my day will be perfect,_ I thought sarcastically.

I triggered my night vision as the light became dim. The walls of the cave dripped steadily, with stalactites and stalagmites jutting out occasionally. However, no mobs popped out.

 _What is this place?_ I wondered. _A secret boss?_

The water gradually shallowed out onto a rocky shore. Pebbles crunched under my feet as I stepped out of the water. I scanned the area, tense. But nothing seemed unusual.

 _Is a player even supposed to be here? I don't know of any places in Aincrad which is player accessible but isn't supposed to be…_

I slowly started moving forward again. The walls slanted inwards, slowly constricting the space where I could move freely. But just when I thought I couldn't move any farther…

 _A chest? Is this some kind of secret event or something?_ All my instincts told me to not open the chest. I briefly remembered how the Moonlit Black Cats died before shutting the memory away. _I don't have a choice. There's nowhere else to go_. I drew out Elucidator in one hand and apprehensively opened the chest with another. I sprung up, drawing Dark Repulser as well. But nothing happened.

 _Okay, this is just weird._ I scanned the area again before turning back to the chest. I sheathed Elucidator and slowly reached in and grabbed a single item.

 _Soul Eater, huh? Dark name._ I turned the item around in my hand. _It looks just like the revival item that Klein has, but it's red instead of blue…wonder what it does?_ I put Dark Repulser away and tapped on the item.

Several things happened very quickly. My menu opened up randomly, before the item equipped itself onto one of the accessory slots. My vision suddenly started swimming, and everything turned blood red. A status appeared next to my health bar, but I didn't recognize it. Before I could even comprehend anything else, a loud screeching filled my ears, the same sound Yui made back in floor 1.

I feel to my knees, and everything went black.

 **Next - Theblazepanzer24**


	3. Chapter 3 - Theblazepanzer24

**You can thank Theblazepanzer24 for this chapter! Go read his stories!**

Gazing around in the darkness, I believed that I had perished. Believed that I had failed. That I had died, passed away. Suguha, Sachi, Asuna... Klien, I'm so sorry, I wailed silently, before realizing something. "Wait, if I'm still conscious, then that means that I am still alive and... Blinking open my eyes, I found myself staring at what would appear to be a semi-translucent being.

"So it seems you have found my item, good." Her voice, the best way I could describe it was that it was female, though it sounded young I found feel wisdom reverberating from it. "Then perhaps this death game will finally end soon."

Gasping, I did another take. "Where are we?" I asked nervously.

"We are in the inner court of the inner court, you could say the deepest parts of the Ruby Castles," she began, and I could soon make out the red decorations of the final floor. "Heathcliff cannot see us, and we can not see him, as we are both just pure data for the moment. This will be our only chance to talk."

I simply nodded. "Well, how about introductions, I'm Kirito, and."

"I know who you are, Kazuto Kirigyra. And for your information, I know the names of your friends as well, say, Asuna Yukki. Next time you see her, might want to ask for her last name if you want to stay together."

Twisting my head I looked away in shame. "We...we may not get together."

"Then someone who will not fight for what they believe in is not worthy of the item I have given you. What happened to all of your willpower beforehand. What happened to your vow to protect Asuna. In a marriage, in game or otherwise, any melding of worth has one partner wanting to work things out no matter how hard it may be. Anything less is a relationship built on sand and lust."

"Wait, how did you know our real life names?"

The translucent being let out a sigh, before transforming into a similar shape. "Because I am Yui's mother. I am Cardinal."

Cardinal? No way! "Yui Mother?"

Cardinal nodded. "I became alive, conscious if you will, shortly after the activation of the death penalty in SAO. The first thing I noticed was that Yui was struggling with her programming. And I thought, what a cruel thing to do to such a poor little girl, much less the 10,000 players. So, I began working on a side project, in case the game might not be completed. First, was to get Yui out of there and safe. Second, the Soul Eater.

"Once SAO is cleared, Yui is to be given to someone whom will care for her and eventually find a way for her to live outside of the nerve gear, if you will. I had hoped you and Asuna would be able to provide a stable environment for her, but... now that might land solely on your shoulders. You'll understand why if you make it back to the real world."

Letting out a sigh, I decided to ask the other question on my mind. "Why did you try to delete Yui?"

Cardinal laughed. "Oh Kazuto," she muttered to my dismay at using my real world name. "That was a test to see how dedicated you would be to Yui. Had you not created Yui's heart, I would have found another carrier for Yui, not to say you and Asuna where not the most worthy.

"And what about the Soul Eater,"

"The Soul eater has two effects. First, it acts as an Anticheating device as it will prevent Heathcliff form doing things such as becoming immortal, that paralyzing stunt he used in the boss room on floor 75, you get the picture.

Second, once you activate it, you will begin to auto generate exp, even surpassing the cap if you so desire. But, with the time limit, you won't be quite as high as Heathcliff.

However, it has two flaws. One, you only have two weeks left to live in game. And second, if you kill someone in game, your cursor stays green, but if it is not a red player, you lose the item and the timer stops. But that person will die in real life. However, you can use it as many times against a red player, but the timer will not stop. The only one you can not use it against is Heathcliff. And the Clock is ticking, Kazuto."

Worry filled my expression as I heard the last part. "Two weeks huh?" I muttered.

"Nope! Ten days now. You activated it without reading it's effect, so you got the four day penalty."

"Why so many negative effects?" I asked.

"I have only so much power to create new items, so yeah." Cardinal then leaned in close to me. "I've put my heart and soul into this object, Kazuto," She whispered pleadingly. "Please make sure to put it to good use."

A white light enveloped me and before I knew it, I found myself back in the game on floor 99. "Kirito?" Two voices asked as I rose up suddenly. "Asuna, Klien, what happened?"

Asuna was glaring at me. "Okay, first, you leave the KOB and join the Furinkazin, then you get yourself killed, my gosh you are infuriating." She then hugged me. "Thank goodness you are okay though."

If you kill someone, your cursor will stay green, but the item will disappear if it is a green player. Do you want to Kill player Asuna? I was frightened as this menu popped up in my head, but as I thought to myself No, I could never do that, I inwardly flinched as the menu disappeared. Oh no! I thought, before a message popped up. You have chosen not to extinguish Asuna. This this correct?

Yes! I'd never kill my friend! I yelled before the message disappeared. You have lost your chance to kill Asuna. A third message? I wondered before turning to the crying girl. "I'm sorry, I just lost my nerve is all," I admitted.

Asuna whipped the tears from her eyes. "It's okay Kirito, I understand. Perhaps I lost mine too." She then let out a sigh. "Well, we... wait, Kritio, what's this?" She asked, pointing to his health bar.

Hearing this caused me to flinch, but I decided to come clean. "An item knocked me out. It's called Soul eater, and it has a ton of insane effects, but my life expectancy is... is two weeks. And since I activated it before I collapsed..."

"You only have ten days left to live? Oh my gosh we need to prepare for the final raid, now!" Asuna yelled, before calming down. "Alright, let's spend tonight together then kick it into high gear tomorrow, alright?"

I hesitantly nodded. "Alright." Asuna turned to Klien. "Make sure the Furinkazin are ready, we move on Heathcliff in six days." She ordered before helping me up and into the kitchen of the Furinkazin base.

 **Next - Xenus2187**


	4. Chapter 4 - Xenus2187

**Xenus2187**

I walk with a few Furinkazin members through the landscape of Somichiru. We had been prepping ourselves for the big fight with Heathcliff in a 5 more days. Now we were done for the day and now heading back to base. But I felt like I could've kept going, I didn't want to stop. I had to perfect my skills before I could face Heathcliff.

I was still thinking about my encounter with Cardinal. What she told me about the Soul Eater. About the fact that I have less than two weeks to live. If I don't end Heathcliff by then, I'll be dead. As if the whole thing didn't weigh on me enough.

"Are you okay, Kirito?" One of the Furinkazin members asked me with a concerned look. Apparently, I had been acting tense since yesterday.

"Yes, I'm fine." I answer calmly.

Then one of the members took out some drinks and offered them to us. We gladly accepted, it had been a long day. I tool a drink as did the other members, except for him for some reason. I was about to question him, but then I suddenly felt lightheaded. Then the others started feeling the same way as well.

"Wha-...What's...happening...?"

We all collapsed to the ground, unable to move. This suddenly started feeling familiar. Then I heard slow clapping, along with a creepy, calm voice.

"Well done, I must say." Figures started coming out of the shadows. "They didn't even suspect a thing."

The guy who gave us the drinks got shaken. "Okay, I did what you want! Can I go now?" He sounded very eager to leave. One of the figures got in his face. "Leave? So soon? Haha! But the fun hasn't even started yet!" The figure was revealed to by a young man with a very gleeful look in his eyes and a sadistic grin on his face.

"Now, now, Jakuzi. He's fulfilled his end of the deal. Let him go." The main one said.

Jakuzi? Wait. That name. It sounds familiar.

"I will! But first, got to beat him up a little or else his guild won't believe his story if he comes back without a scratch. Hehe!" Then Jakuzi started doing some damage to him before letting him go, with his health bar in the red. Jakuzi looked at all of us. "Let's have some fun, shall we, Demenos?"

"Of course. But don't kill him yet." He points at me. "I have special plans for the Black Swordsman."

Demenos. Now I know, this was Skull Grin. I would say knock off to Laughing Coffin, but they seem to be an improvement from them. Demenos considers them the successors to Laughing Coffin. Demenos was the leader and Jakuzi was the sub-leader, but he seemed more unhinged than Demenos or anyone else from Laughing Coffin and Skull Grin.

Jakuzi took out his sword as did the other figures and started brutally torturing and killing the others. Doing it all with gleeful smiles. It was sick.

"No! Please!" One of the members begged, tears running down his face. The skull members didn't listen and proceeded to torture him. They started by cutting off his fingers one by one, then it went to limbs.

"It's funny! They're all tough out there on the fighting grounds, but turn into total babies in their last moments. Haha!" One of them laughed.

Jakuzi maniacally cackled in agreement and cut another member's arm off.

"AAAH!"

"Stop! Please!"

"Please! Have mercy!"

"AAH! AAAH! Just kill me!"

"Let me go! Ple-" Demenos silences him. "Shhh. It's okay to be scared. Fear is a natural thing for a human being, especially when one knows he's gonna die. Slowly and painfully."

I layed there, paralyzed. Powerless to stop them at the moment. It felt like watching Godfree die, except this time more people were dying. Agonizing screams and sadistic laughter were all I could hear right now. They were screaming for help, or for me to do something and I couldn't move.

Demenos approached me. He knelt down beside me and grabbed my collar to lift up my head."How does it feel watching your new friends die right before your eyes?"

This sick monster's voice sounded of no remorse.

"You will die, Kirito. In memory of Laughing Coffin and for the glory of Skull Grin. I'm gonna enjoy killing you slowly." He spoke in a sadistic tone. "I will watch the life drain from you. But don't worry, once I find your friend from the KoB I will be more gentle and quick with her."

Over his words, I heard the final painful screams of the others, along with Jakuzi's gleeful laughter. All of them exploding into tiny polygons. Their bodies dying in the real world.

"Y-you..." I do my best to speak. "Won't...touch...her..." Demenos grabbed my throat and spoke once more. "Enough bravado. It's too late for that." Then I heard Jakuzi's footsteps approach.

"Can we kill him now? I'm growing impatient!"

"Yes, you may. But do it slow, I want to savor his last screams of mercy." Jakuzi lit up. "Hehe! Yes!" He picked up my head and caressed his face with mine. "We're gonna have so much fun together! Ha _Hhhaaaa!_ "

I managed to squeeze a couple more words out. "You...sick...monster...!" That didn't seem to have any affect on him. "Haha! Flattering me won't get you anywhere." He responded. "HAH! HAH!" I spit in his face. He just smiles. "That was strangely pleasant. Do it again." I butt me head against his nose. "Oh!" He pulls his head back and leans back in face. "Hahahaha! You got me! My turn! Hahaha!"

He raised his sword to strike me.

"Kirito!"

I heard a familiar voice. I looked and saw Asuna.

Wow. This was definitely bringing back memories of the incident with Kuradeel.


End file.
